MapView 2.0 - Civilization 4 Editor

[Deliverator]

Small request I hope.
MapView drops the following territories from colonization maps when saving.

13:51:51: Unknow or unexpected line(18879): EuropeType=EUROPE_EAST
13:51:51: Unknow or unexpected line(18885): EuropeType=EUROPE_WEST
13:51:51: Unknow or unexpected line(18891): EuropeType=EUROPE_NORTH
13:51:51: Unknow or unexpected line(18897): EuropeType=EUROPE_SOUTH

Is there a way you could make it leave these territories in the xml instead of deleting them?
In a side note. What is the largest size map supported by col or civ iv? Or is that a function of the amount of RAM a user has?

I'm interested in using this for Civ4Col maps too. I guess you could always keep the original WBS file and use a compare tool like BeyondCompare to merge the changes to keep the Europe territories. Full Civ4Col support would be great though.

 

[CivRulez07]

i must say that this is much better than worldbuilder, but i'm not sure how to use it (namely how to place the different types of terrain...all i see is ocean). is there some help file that i'm just unable to find, or am i missing something?

thanks!!!

 

[Jabarto]

Now that I have some experience with using this program (from my work on the 160x130 Europe map, as well as a second one that I haven't released), I think I can offer some detailed feedback.

In a word, this program is invaluable. It enables me to make landmasses with almost no effort and I can easily adjust the size of the map, make cutouts, and just about anyhting else I want. The Pic2Map plugin is just about the neatest thing I've ever seen, and without it, I simply would not have been able to complete my Europe map.

That said, there are a few things I'd like to see, though most of them have already been mentioned:

1. Being able to control the size of the pic2map result. I know you said you're working on this, but I'd just like to reiterate that it would be tremendously useful.

2. Adding players with MapView can be annoying because the program doesn't fill in all of the needed data (specifically, the CivAdjective, CivName, etc. set of lines), so I still end up having to do some WBS save editing to make it work.

3. Some kind of a grid would be a huge help. It can be difficult to judge distance accurately on the screen without one.

4. Being able to choose which of the three forest types (deciduous, confierous, or snowy) gets placed. I think someone else brought this up as well.

That's about all i can think of off-hand. Once again, great work with this program.

 

[Gr3yHound]

1. Being able to control the size of the pic2map result. I know you said you're working on this, but I'd just like to reiterate that it would be tremendously useful.

one of the first things to do once i get back to it

2. Adding players with MapView can be annoying because the program doesn't fill in all of the needed data (specifically, the CivAdjective, CivName, etc. set of lines), so I still end up having to do some WBS save editing to make it work.

Good point, thx, noted

3. Some kind of a grid would be a huge help. It can be difficult to judge distance accurately on the screen without one.

Quite easy, i believe i even wrote the code already, it's just commented

4. Being able to choose which of the three forest types (deciduous, confierous, or snowy) gets placed. I think someone else brought this up as well.

has neen requested often, i wanna do that. I need to dig a bit and see if i can find the definition of feature varieties

That's about all i can think of off-hand. Once again, great work with this program.

Thx

I hope i can find a few nice days soon to get another built out

 

[Gr3yHound]

i must say that this is much better than worldbuilder, but i'm not sure how to use it (namely how to place the different types of terrain...all i see is ocean). is there some help file that i'm just unable to find, or am i missing something?

thanks!!!

The toolbars? You should have toolbars for everything, also terrain, just look on ocean, then "paint". For terrain you can even define the brush-size.

 

[CivRulez07]

The toolbars? You should have toolbars for everything, also terrain, just look on ocean, then "paint". For terrain you can even define the brush-size.

hmm...for some reason i don't think it was working the first time, when i posted, but i got it worked out now - thanks...anyway, now i forget how to navigate my map in the "view" window...i can zoom in and out, but how do you move up, down, left, and right? i did it once before, but i don't remember how

i also must say that a help file of some sort would be helpful - especially to newbies like me

thanks!

 

[Gr3yHound]

The "help file" is the starting message of this thread. Your question is answered there too.

How do you navigate? Scroll and zoom?
Whenever you hold down "SPACE" you can use the left and right mouse button to navigate and zoom. Even if you have a tool selected. It's similar how 3d software works so it should quite familiar for a few people and once you know it it should be pretty natuarl.

But you're right, mayb some "offline" help would be nice too.

FAQ:

• How do i use the TeamReveal Plugin?
  Basicly you use the left mouse-button to "paint" reveal and the right mouse-button to "paint" hidden areas.
  A right click on the team-selection drop down will bring up a context menu with a few further features. The option to completely hide the whole map from all teams can be reached via the "Plugins->TeamReveal x.x" menu.
• Why are there so many ? - Buttons?
  Questionmarks are harmless.
  The main goal of MapView is to have a few restrictions possible. It works with almost any mod and can place and delete things i couldn't know about when i wrote the program. MapView is also able to be teached by the users, buttons can be created and adjusted. The questionmark just means noone has ever created a button for a specific terrain/bonus/feature/route/uni for improvement. You could easily create some buttons if you wanted to, check out the video tutorials.
• The application crashes on startup, what to do?
  Try starting MapView without plug_editor.dll to be present in the App folder. If it works now there is some issue with an xml file i don't handle. Use this version of the editor to find out which file is causing the error. Please upload the file somewhere and send me a PM.
• The application crashes when changing to another mod?
  Use this version of the editor to find out which *.xml file is causing the error. I probably have an unhandled case. Please upload the file somewhere and send me a PM.
• Why is some terrain black
  This indicated that the file has no terrain. This can happen when using cut. It's not bad tho. That way you could save yourself some bonus settings or similar and then easily paste it into your current map project without modifying the terrain.
• How do you navigate? Scroll and zoom?
  Whenever you hold down "SPACE" you can use the left and right mouse button to navigate and zoom. Even if you have a tool selected. It's similar how 3d software works so it should quite familiar for a few people and once you know it it should be pretty natuarl.
• The toolbar entries of the mod is incorrect
  MapView requires everything to start with the usual identifier. BONUS_, FEATURE_, LEADER_ and so on. Some mods (like American Revolution) don't work like that (AMREV_BONUS_SOMETHING etc.)
• How to delete Bonus, Features, Routes, Improvements?
  Use the eraser and click on ANY bonus, feature, route or improvement. If you last clicked on a bonus, bonuses will be erased etc.
• How to delete Cities and units?
  Whenever you click on a tile containing units or a city the "Tile inspector" will show those types. You can right click on a unit or city and delete it. Units can also be deleted by pressing the delete key on your keyboard.
• How to delete River?
  Make sure you enabled the riverplace tool. Hold down the right mouse button while moving the mouse.
  You can delete a whole river from source to mouth by holding down shift and then left-clicking on a river.
• Some textures look wrong
  Make sure all files in the directory /Texture/[Subdir]/ have the same dimensions. If this happens when you use an unmodified version please report it.
• What do the question mark symbols on the map mean?
  This is when the render engine didn't find a picture that has the same name as the feature, bonus, improvement or route.
  You can easily create your own art work. Check the video tutorials to learn how to do this or check the SDK folder for template files to start creating the files for your personal mod.
  
  
• Where do i need to install the Plugins to?
  The plugin itself has to be in the same folder as the application executable. Usually /MapView/. You should be fine when extracting the plugin to this folder.
• How do i disable a plugin?
  1. Rename the plugin so it doesn't start with 'plug_' anymore
  2. or just remove it from the directory

 

[CivRulez07]

The "help file" is the starting message of this thread. Your question is answered there too.

oops...sorry lol should've looked there first

But you're right, mayb some "offline" help would be nice too.

i have a solution: i took the FAQ and made it into the PDF that you will find attached. if there are any suggestions for it, let me know!

 

[CivRulez07]

one thing i noticed: when i try to open some mods (there are several of them that do this) thorugh the "Plugins > Editor 1.3.1 > Mods", i get a message saying "MapViewProject has encountered a problem and needs to close." When i choose to see what data the error report contains, some of what is shown is:

AppName: mapview.exe AppVer: 2.0.6.0 ModName: msvcp80.dll
ModVer: 8.0.50727.3053 Offset: 000049cf

and in the "log" of MapView, something like this:

Error: Can not enumerate files in directory 'C:\Program Files\Firaxis Games\Sid Meier's Civilization 4\Beyond the Sword\Mods\Gods of Old\Assets\XML\Interface\' (error 3: the system cannot find the path specified.)

appears, except it shows that error for the "XML\Terrain" and "XML\BasicInfos" directories of the mod as well. i do have the game installed in the default location, so i do not know why this would not be working properly

for all mods, it shows a message similar to the above in the log, but not all mods cause MapView to crash

 

[asioasioasio]

yeah me too - it has something with modified dll in mods. My versioun of mod without sdk works well with Mapview 2.0, and with .dll crashes Map view.

 

[CivRulez07]

yeah me too - it has something with modified dll in mods. My versioun of mod without sdk works well with Mapview 2.0, and with .dll crashes Map view.

by "modified dll" do you mean that you changed the dll for the mod? because i haven't changed the dll of any of the mods that came with the game, and they're still causing MapView to crash...

 

[asioasioasio]

but the mod came with new .dll? I mean someone has compilled new .dll?

I use RevolutionDCM .dll - tough i didn't integrated it well because it has other bugs.

 

[Gr3yHound]

one thing i noticed: when i try to open some mods (there are several of them that do this) thorugh the "Plugins > Editor 1.3.1 > Mods", i get a message saying "MapViewProject has encountered a problem and needs to close." When i choose to see what data the error report contains, some of what is shown is:

AppName: mapview.exe AppVer: 2.0.6.0 ModName: msvcp80.dll
ModVer: 8.0.50727.3053 Offset: 000049cf

and in the "log" of MapView, something like this:

Error: Can not enumerate files in directory 'C:\Program Files\Firaxis Games\Sid Meier's Civilization 4\Beyond the Sword\Mods\Gods of Old\Assets\XML\Interface\' (error 3: the system cannot find the path specified.)

appears, except it shows that error for the "XML\Terrain" and "XML\BasicInfos" directories of the mod as well. i do have the game installed in the default location, so i do not know why this would not be working properly

for all mods, it shows a message similar to the above in the log, but not all mods cause MapView to crash

yeah me too - it has something with modified dll in mods. My versioun of mod without sdk works well with Mapview 2.0, and with .dll crashes Map view.

have you tried this?
http://www.weown.de/files/MapView/Editor-1.2-crashfilefinder.zip

 

[Gr3yHound]

but the mod came with new .dll? I mean someone has compilled new .dll?

I use RevolutionDCM .dll - tough i didn't integrated it well because it has other bugs.

Well, if you use another dll the game and the xmls might look completly different. Probably mapview tries to read a tag from an xml that is there in mods that just base on vanilla/warlords etc. and has been removed in the mods you try.

 

[CivRulez07]

have you tried this?
http://www.weown.de/files/MapView/Editor-1.2-crashfilefinder.zip

umm...i just tried it, but it crashes on startup:

AppName: mapview.exe AppVer: 2.0.6.0 ModName: ntdll.dll
ModVer: 5.1.2600.5755 Offset: 0000120e

 

[kevinman4404]

@Greyhound, i am suddenly having the exact same problem as CivRulez 07. Well, I can open my map, and I can load my mod, but I cannot do both- when I try it crashes. But everything CivRulez said is exactly accurate with my problem too.

I do not know what I could have possibly changed to cause this (most likely nothing's been changed to do with civ4) though my computer has been a terrible mess lately.

Let me know if you have any ideas
Kevin

 

[CivRulez07]

i'm glad i'm not the only one having this problem...any suggestions, Gr3yhound? or anyone?

 

[Gr3yHound]

Thx for the FAQ btw. very nice. Will hopefully include it soon.

I'd need the complete Mod folder structure to debug that for you. (But i only need the *.xml files, so you can delete everything else) and a map that causes the problem.

Does it always crash when changing to the mod? Or just on certain maps? I.e: when you create a small map with mapview (10x10 or whatever) and then change to the mod. Does it also crash?

 

[CivRulez07]

I'd need the complete Mod folder structure to debug that for you. (But i only need the *.xml files, so you can delete everything else)

sorry, i'm sometimes easily confused lol...so what do you need?

a map that causes the problem.

here is a list of the mods/maps that do not work from right when i start MapView (right after i start MapView, i choose a mod):

• American Revolution
• Chinese Unification
• Genghis Khan

Does it always crash when changing to the mod? Or just on certain maps? I.e: when you create a small map with mapview (10x10 or whatever) and then change to the mod. Does it also crash?

when i created a small map and switched to American Revolution, it did not crash, but Chinese Unification and Genghis Khan did

 

[Gr3yHound]

Okay, i fixed it. But i disabled some stuff during development so i cannot upload it immediately. Give me a little.

Was really good you asked for this. There was a really bad problem which is now solved. This fix increased the general fitness of MapView a lot.

Crashes when changing mods should be much rare now.